Like this:

The most commented and “liked” tweet I ever sent happened several weeks ago.

Actually, October 8th to be exact.

I was surprised, honestly, of the response on social media including my personal Facebook page.

Here’s what I said: “I’ve decided to never burn bridges. Ever. Even if the other person attempts to pull away, seek to repair it if it’s within your power.”

Now I understand. We’ve all blown up relationships, either personally or professionally.

And, we’ve had others do something (or say something) towards us that completely destroyed the trust required to continue the relationship.

Could be a spouse, a friend, a coworker or a leader in our life.

But Bridges can be rebuilt.

How do you rebuild a bridge you’ve blown up?

And, how do you know when you can trust the other person enough to “rebuild” the bridge?

Here are four questions to ask:

1. Do they keep their word? (and am I willing to keep mine?)

This is where it starts. We have to count on them (and people have to learn that they can count on us) to deliver on promises. If you commit to following up on something, do it. No excuses.

If you can’t do it, proactively let the other person know.

For example, “Terri, last week I told you that I would get back to you with a proposal. However, I am waiting for a bid to come through from an outside vendor. It looks like that might add a week to my schedule.”

People are usually very forgiving if you take the initiative to communicate. However, if they have to chase you down, you lose points. Your reputation will take a hit.

2. Do they tell the truth? (And, am I willing to be honest with them moving forward?)

This is harder than it sounds. Most of us like to think of ourselves as truth-tellers. But it’s easy to round the numbers up, spin the facts, or conveniently leave out the evidence that doesn’t support our position.

But if we are going to build trust, then we have to commit ourselves to telling the truth—even when it is difficult or embarrassing.

People are more forgiving than you think. (Witness all the celebrities who have publicly blown it, apologized, and received a pass.) They don’t expect you to be perfect. However, they do expect you to acknowledge your mistakes and to come clean when you screw up.

3. Are they transparent and authentic? (Am I willing to be real with them first?)

People will not trust you unless you learn to share yourself, warts and all. You have to take a risk and be vulnerable. This creates rapport and rapport builds trust.

However—and be warned!—you can’t use this as a gimic or a technique. If you do, people will see it as manipulation. Instead, you have to be authentic. The reason this builds trust is because you are demonstrating trust. You are taking the initiative to go first.

In essence, you are saying, “Look, I trust you. I am taking off my mask and showing you my true self. Some of it isn’t very pretty. But I am willing to take that risk, believing you will still accept me.”

4. Do they Give without any strings attached? (Am I willing to give first?)

Nothing builds trust like love. What does love have to do with the workplace?

As Tim Sanders points out in Love Is the Killer App, everything. You have to be willing to share your knowledge, your contacts, and your compassion—without expecting anything in return. The more you take the initiative to give, the more it builds trust. Giving lets others know that you know it’s not “all about you.” From this, people learn that they can trust you, because you have their best interests at heart.

Bridges can always be rebuilt.

Granted, in some situations, it can take years.

It takes doing the right things over a long period of time.

But in most cases, it won’t take that long. Relationships can be turned around quickly if both will take the steps needed to rebuild trust.

Building connection with others is our lifeline. It’s their lifeline as well.

In my humble opinion, “dis-connection” has become an epidemic: driving people to desperately find incomplete substitutes. Resulting in broken hearts, broken bodies and broken futures.

Yet, re-connecting restores the human heart. And nothing else can do that.

Studies are now showing that addictions and self-destructive choices are often driven by our unmet need of Connection.

No one strategically chooses a life goal to eventually live in depression or addiction (food, sex or drugs) or a deep distrust of others. This is all an attempt to heal the pain caused from dis-connection.

I watched the video below and it floored me. It explains so much about why people slip into addictive patterns to deal with personal pain.

And it presents a whole new perspective on the real cure for the human heart.

While it may seem like these two choices increase your chances for survival, in fact they merely insulate you from worthwhile failures.

Here are six random ideas that will help you FAIL Better, more often and with an inevitably positive upside:

Grow yourself by doing hard things. The results? You grow both your competence and your character. You become a master at your craft.

Find your “Why”. Most people get so focused on “what” they’re doing in life, they rarely focus on “why” (which is walking in purpose). You’ll eventually become excellent at your “what” because it’s empowered and inspired by your “why”.

Engage with others. Bring people along with you. If you fail, they provide support and direction when you need them most.

Be really clear about what the true risks are. Ignore the non-fatal risks that take so much of our focus away.

Concentrate your energy on initiatives that you can influence, but prepare for external circumstances that could derail your plans.

When you fail (and you will) be clear about it. Call it by name and outline specifically what you learned so you won’t make the same mistake twice. People who blame others for failure will never be good at failing, because they’ve never done it.

If that list frightened you, you might be getting to the heart of the matter.

If that list feels like the sort of thing you, your team, and colleagues could adopt as part of your culture, then perhaps you’re onto something……

Atul continues to share how, at age 45 and at the top of his profession, he leveraged a coach to build his “expert competence” and move him into undiscovered areas of surgical development.

Like Atul, you are a “genius, at the top of your game, and highly respected by your colleagues,” so why on earth would you need to a coach to improve?

Will Rogers said, “When you are through changing you are through.”

Below are three reasons even the best high-achievers need a coach (and the benefits I received recently from several sessions with a leadership coach):

Leverage a pair of outside eyes and ears. What we perceive is often quite different from how others see or hear us. The best performers look to coaches for a neutral perspective so they can view problems more objectively with less emotional attachment.

Lift the “fog” and gain more clarity. Coaches help others see more clearly the path to action. They can ask just the right question or share a perfectly timed insight so that blinders come off and the coachee is able to create their own energy to execution…clarity is powerful!

Make better, faster decisions. Life and work boil down to solving and acting on problems. Many of us make “emotional” or hasty decisions. Even the best lack a systematic approach for thinking through challenges. Coaches bring more rigor to the mind game while streamlining the decision-making process.

In the words of Dr. Gawande, “Coaching done well may be the most effective intervention designed for human performance.”